Home entertainment system and method of its operation

ABSTRACT

An EPG database for a home entertainment system includes files that contain information about television programs retrievable by time and channel. The files are linked to each other so information about, a future television program can be obtained by accessing a file about a current television program. A current television program displayed on the screen of a home entertainment system includes an announcement or advertisement of a future television program. The availability of an electronic program guide function (e.g., record, watch, details, display time, display channel, display by theme, and Internet connection) is signaled during, before, or after the announcement. A command is issued to invoke the EPG function. The information about the future television program is retrieved from the file about the current television program in fee database. The EPG function is executed with the retrieved information. As a result, an EPG function can be performed with respect to a future television program without embedding information about the future television program in the television signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of provisional application Ser. No.60/072,396, filed on Jan. 23, 1998, the disclosure of which isincorporated fully herein by reference.

The disclosures of the following patent applications are alsoincorporated fully herein by reference: published internationalApplication WO96/07270 published Mar. 7, 1996; U.S. Application No.60/053,330 filed Jul. 21, 1997; U.S. Application No. 60/061J 19 filedOct. 6, 1997; U.S. Application No. 60/035,237 filed Aug. 12, 1997, andU.S. application Ser. No. 09/120,488 filed Jul. 21, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a home entertainment system and a method, forits operation and, more particularly, to facilitation of electronicprogram guide (EPG) functions with respect to the promotion of futuretelevision programs in a home entertainment system.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,455 which issued on Dec. 11, 1990 discloses a systemand process for supplying supplemental information after a user respondsto a cue. The cue is provided during a broadcast to indicate theavailability of the supplemental information relating to the broadcast.The supplemental information is preferably sent at a later time,although schedule information for the supplemental information is sentwith the broadcast. After the user responds to the cue, the scheduleinformation is first stored and is then used to record the supplementalinformation. In one embodiment, supplemental data is sent in the VBI ofthe video signal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, a current television programdisplayed on the screen of a home entertainment system includes anannouncement or advertisement of a future television program. Theavailability of an electronic program guide function is signaled during,before, or after the announcement A command is issued to invoke the EPGfunction. An EPG database for the home entertainment system includesfiles that contain information about television programs retrievable bytime and channel. The files are linked to each other so informationabout a future television program can be obtained by accessing a fileabout a current television program. The information about the futuretelevision program is retrieved from the file about the currenttelevision program in the database. The EPG function is executed withthe retrieved information. As a result, an EPG function can be performedwith respect to a future television program without embeddinginformation about the future television program in the televisionsignal.

The invention can be used to perform various EPG functions, including,without limitation, record, watch, details, display time, displaychannel, display by theme, and Internet connection.

According to an optional feature of the invention, a menu of choices isdisplayed in

response to a command after display of an icon signaling theavailability of an EPG function during, before or after theannouncement.

According to another optional feature of the invention, a plurality oficons are displayed on the screen to signal different EPG functions,which can be invoked by selecting the corresponding icon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of specific embodiments of the best mode contemplated ofcarrying out the invention are illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a home entertainment systemincorporating principals of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a display screen illustrating an icon thatsignals the availability of an EPG function with respect to a futuretelevision program;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a display screen prompting a viewer to selectfrom among a number of EPG functions;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a display screen prompting a viewer to selectamong choices for the frequency that a television program is to berecorded;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a display screen Illustrating the simultaneousdisplay of a current television program and textual data from anInternet web site;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a display screen illustrating an embodiment inwhich one or more announcements are stored for later use; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a display screen in which separate icons are usedto signal the availability of different EPG functions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

In a specific embodiment of the invention, an icon is displayed on atelevision screen during a telecast of an announcement or advertisementof a later telecast program or some other type of visual or audio signalalerts the viewer that an electronic program guide (EPG) function can beperformed without actually entering the ETC or at least not entering theEPG from the beginning.

For example, if the viewer wants to record on a VCR the program beingadvertised, the viewer issues art appropriate command from a remotecontroller, e.g., clicks on the icon with the select or enter key of theremote, and the time and channel of the advertised program are stored inthe recording stack memory of the VCR, Preferably, a message isdisplayed momentarily in a box on the screen to confirm that thefunction will be performed. If desired a query could also be displayedwhether the program should be displayed once or on more occasions, e.g.,daily or weekly.

Or, for example, if the viewer wants to see more details about theadvertised program, the viewer clicks on the icon and the details areretrieved from the RAM in which the EPG data is stored and eitherreplace the advertisement on the screen or are displayed in an on-screenbox. Alternatively, the advertisement could be displayed in a PIP windowin accordance with the referenced PCT application.

Or, for example, if the viewer wishes to see what other programs arebeing telecast at the same time, on the same channel, or with the sametheme as the advertised program, the viewer clicks on the icon and theEPG is displayed for the same day and time, the same channel, or thesame theme as the advertised program.

If more than one function is available to the viewer, the choice offunctions is first displayed in a menu when the viewer clicks on theicon and the function is executed when the viewer thereafter clicks onone of the displayed choices.

A home entertainment system is shown in FIG. 1. A source of televisionsignals 10 such as a terrestrial antenna, or a cable is connected to atelevision tuner 11. The output of tuner 11 is a modulated intermediatefrequency signal containing video and audio television information.Tuner 11 is connected by an intermediate frequency amplifier (IF AMP) 12to a picture detector (PICTURE DET) 13 and a sound detector (SOUND DET)14, which produce base band video and audio signals, respectively,. Theaudio signal is coupled by a sound amplifier (SOUND AMP) 15 to aloudspeaker 16. The video signal is coupled by a video amplifier notshown to one input of a switch 18, Sound detector 14 and picturedetector 13 are connected to the audio and video inputs, respectively,of a video cassette recorder (VCR) 17. (Alternatively, television signalsource 10 could be directly connected to the RF input of VCR 17 in wellknown fashion, if its internal tuner and demodulating circuitry are tobe utilized.) The output of VCR 17 is connected to the other input ofswitch 18. The output of switch 18 is connected, to one input of aconventional picture-in-picture (PIP) integrated circuit chip 19. Theoutput of PIP chip 19 is connected to the video input of a televisionreceiver or display monitor (TV) 20 having a screen (not shown).

An undatable data base of the schedule of program listings of all theavailable channels for a prescribed period of time, e.g., a day or aweek, is electronically stored in a program schedule memory 22,preferably a RAM. Memory 22 is connected to a microprocessor 24 that isconfigured, i.e., programmed, to control the operation of the describedequipment. An operating program for microprocessor 24 is stored in aread only memory (ROM) 26. These program listings typically include foreach program the title, a program description (detail), the day of theweek, the start time of the day, the program length, and the channel onwhich the program is transmitted and thus available for reception atsource. These program listings are retrievable by time and channel.Further, to implement the invention these program listings are organizedinto files; the files arc linked to each other so Information about afuture television program that is advertised in an earlier televisionprogram can be obtained by accessing a file about the earlier televisionprogram. The data base can be updated by a data transmission link in thevertical blanking interval (VBI) of a television channel broadcast tothe television receiver in well known fashion. A VBI decoder 38 isconnected between PICTURE DET 13 and microprocessor 24 for this purpose.Alternatively, the data base can be updated by unplugging memory 22 andreplacing it with a memory having the updated data base or by anotherdata transmission link such as an Internet connection or a pager in the900 MHz band. A viewer input device 28, preferably in the form of aremote IR controller. Is coupled to microprocessor 24 to issue commandsfrom the viewer. A video processor 30 is coupled to microprocessor 24.When the viewer wishes to see television program listings,microprocessor 24 recalls a portion of the program schedule data basefrom memory 22 and couples it to video processor 30, where the programlistings are formatted for display. Preferably, the information storedin video processor 30 is a bit map of what is displayed on the screen oftelevision, receiver 20. Video processor 30 is connected through aswitch 40 to the other input of PIP chip 19. Preferably, viewer inputdevice 28 controls microprocessor 24 by cursor movement on the screen oftelevision receiver 20. To this end, microprocessor 24 and videoprocessor 30 are coupled to a cursor position register 32.(Alternatively, the viewer can select items of information displayed onthe screen by keying into viewer input device 28 code numbers assignedto these items.) Microprocessor 24 is also coupled to tuner 11 forchannel change, to VCR 17 for play/record selection and start/stop, toswitches 18 and 40 for selection of one of their inputs, and to PIP chip19 for selection of the mode of PIP operation. An Internet connection 42through a telephone line or bidirectional cable is controlled bymicroprocessor 24. Microprocessor 24 retrieves the address of the website to which the viewer wants to connect Internet connection 42 has thecomponents required for implementing Web TV. The information recoveredfrom the addressed web site is coupled from Internet connection 42through switch 40 to the one input of PIP chip 19 for display on thescreen of TV 20.

in operation, timer 11 is set to a viewer selected channel bymicroprocessor 24 responsive to input device 28. During a commercialbreak in the television program on the selected channel, an announcementor advertisement for another television program to be telecast at alater time is displayed on the screen of TV 20. Transmitted as part ofthe image of the advertisement is an icon that signals to the viewerthat it is possible to link to an EPG function. Alternatively, the iconcould be transmitted in the VBI during the advertisement, recovered byVBI decoder 38, transformed into graphic form in video processor 30, andoverlayed on the image of the advertisement (If desired the icon couldbe displayed immediately before or immediately after the advertisement.)The advertisement designated 50 and an icon 52 are illustrated in FIG.2.

When the viewer issues a command from input device 28, by either pushinga dedicated key or positioning a cursor over icon 52 with arrow keys andclicking an all purpose actuator (enter) key, a box 54 is overlayed overadvertisement 50 as illustrated in FIG. 3 to prompt the viewer to invokean EPG function. A menu of EPG functions is displayed in box 54, namely:p1 1. record the advertised program when it is telecast at a later time;

-   -   2. turn the television on to watch the advertised program when        it is telecast at a later time;    -   3. display details of the advertised program now;    -   4. display a listing of programs telecast at the same time as        the advertised program so the viewer can compare, the advertised        program with other offerings at the same time;    -   5. display a listing of programs telecast on the same channel as        the advertised program so the viewer can compare the advertised        program with other offerings on the same channel;    -   6. display a listing of programs in the same category or theme        as the advertised program so the viewer can determine the        availability of programs of the same genre as the advertised        program;    -   7. connect to the Internet to obtain more details about the        advertised program than are available through the details        function; and    -   8. return to the television program.        The viewer selects one of the functions for example by moving, a        cursor to the menu item and then issuing another command to        invoke the selected function, for example, the viewer could        highlight “3,” and click to display details about the advertised        program.

If the viewer wishes to extinguish box 50, the viewer selects “8”, thereturn function.

Other functions not listed in FIG. 3 could also be offered. For example,all the times (he advertised program is telecast could be displayed onthe screen or a news story related to the advertised program could, bedisplayed on the screen, particularly in the case of a sporting event.

With reference to the above PCT application, the EPG information aboutthe television programs is retrievable by time and channel; for examplea pre-established time list includes addresses that point to showinformation packages (SIP) for the television programs. Each televisionprogram that has an icon 52 includes in its SIP an address pointing todie schedule information, i.e., day-time, channel, and length, of theadvertised program to be telecast at a later time, thereby linking theinformation of the two television programs. If the “record” or “watch”function is selected, the channel is read from tuner 11 and the time isread from a real, time clock in microprocessor 24. From thisinformation, the pointer of the SIP for the current television programis retrieved from the pre-established time list. The retrieved pointerpermits microprocessor 24 to find the SIP for the current televisionprogram, which contains the address pointing to the schedule informationfor the advertised program. The schedule information is stored in amemory stack so microprocessor 23 can set toner 11 to the proper channeland turn on the VCR for unattended future recording or turn on thetelevision for automatic future watching at the appointed time in wellknown fashion.

The program listing files stored in memory 22 could be organized in artynumber of other ways so long as the information about the natureprograms being advertised is “linked” to a current program, i.e., can beretrieved when a current program is being displayed with an EPG functionsignaling icon, for example, the information about the future programscould be linked to the current programs including advertisements bybeing part of the same file as the current programs instead of beinglinked by a pointer.

When the record function is selected, a box 56 is overlaid onadvertisement 50 as illustrated in FIG. 4 to prompt the viewer to selecta record option. A menu of record options is displayed in box 56. (Theserecord options are-also considered to be EPG functions as the term isused herein because they are functions that can normally be performed byan EPG.) The viewer can record the advertised program as follows:

-   -   1. once;    -   2. daily;    -   3. weekly; or    -   4. each time program in a series (e.g., the NBA championship        games) is telecast.        The viewer selects one of the record options for example by        moving a cursor to a menu item, e.g., “3,” and clicking to        record the advertised program weekly.

As an additional feature, if the series option is selected in FIG. 4, alist of each occurrence of the episodes of the series may be displayed;when a particular episode is selected, a synopsis of the episode wouldthen be displayed. From the synopsis the viewer could select Individualepisodes of the series to schedule to watch or record.

The menus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 could be stored In memory 22 along withthe EPG data base and overlayed on the image of the advertisement bymeans of a video switch or other means not represented in FIG. 1.

If the detail function is selected, the detail (program, description)information is retrieved from the SIP of the future program, beingadvertised and displayed on the screen of TV 20.

If the time, channel, or theme function is selected, the channel is readfrom tuner 11 and the time is read from a real time clock inmicroprocessor 24, From this information, the pointer or pointers of thedesired SIP or SIP's are retrieved from the preestablishsd time list.The retrieved pointer or pointers permit microprocessor 24 to find thedesired SIP or SIP's, from which the program listings for the same time,channel, or theme as the advertised program are extracted and fed tovideo processor 30 for display on the screen of the monitor in the samemanner as the data for an ordinary guide described in the referenced PCTapplication.

Alternatively, if the time or channel function is selected, the time andchannel in a grid guide (reference U.S. application Ser. No. 09/120,488)could he displayed so the viewer can see the other programs available onthe same channel or at the same time in a grid guide format. In thiscase, an advertised program or a program telecast at about the same timeor on the same channel can be directly scheduled for recording orwatching by using the scheduling capability of the guide itself. (SeeU.S. Pat. No. 5,353,121, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereinby reference.)

If the Internet function is selected, the system sets up a connection toa web site where more information is available about the othertelevision program, to which the announcement or advertisement relates.The web site address (URL) could be embedded in the VBI of thetelevision signal, that carries the announcement, stored at thetelevision receiver In the EPG data base as part of the SIP for thecurrent television program, or retrieved from a central data base via atelephone connection. After the Internet connection is established, asillustrated in FIG. 5, the television program is displayed in a PIPwindow 58 with the web site information in the background 60, orvis-a-versa. Alternatively, the web site information could replace thetelevision program on the screen. In either case, the viewer cannavigate about the web site in the normal fashion to find the desiredinformation.

Instead of appearing dining an announcement or advertisement, icon 52could appear during a television program itself. When the viewer issuesthe command in response to icon 52, a box 62 is displayed on the screen.An announcement or advertisement of the later telecast program appearsin box 62. If the viewer is interested in the later telecast program,the viewer issues another command from input device 28 and box 54 (FIG.3) is displayed as described above.

Instead of an announcement or advertisement of a later telecast program,the announcement could relate to a current program on another channel.This is particularly applicable to a network that telecasts a pluralityof programs concurrently on different channels, as is the case In theHDTV environment. The network can thus promote its other programofferings being telecast at the-same time. The viewer can record theother program and continue to watch the program he or she had beenwatching. Thus, the term “future programs” in this specification is usedfor ease of comprehension of the inventive principles, but this termalso refers to a current program on. another channel.

Another alternative is to store one or more announcements of a latertelecast program or programs while the television set is turned off.After the television set is turned on, icon 52 is displayed on thescreen to alert the viewer that there are stored announcements. As theviewer issues a command from input device 28, the announcements appearon the screen, as illustrated in FIG. 6, in succession. If the viewer isinterested in the announced program, the viewer issues another commandfrom input device 28 and box 54 (FIG. 3) is displayed as describedabove.

Instead of a single Icon 52 (FIG. 1) that invokes a menu of choices ofEPG functions (FIG. 3), a plurality of icons 52 a, 52 b, and 52 c couldbe displayed as shown in FIG. 7 to bypass the menu of FIG. 3. Each iconis marked with a mnemonic to enable the viewer to distinguish it fromthe other icons, e.g., “R” stands for “record”, “W” stands for “watch”,and “D” stands for “details”. When the viewer selects one of the icons,e.g., by-clicking on the selected icon, the corresponding EPG functionis invoked directly.

The described embodiments of the invention are only considered to bepreferred and illustrative of the inventive concept; the scope of theinvention is not to be restricted to such embodiment. Various andnumerous other arrangements may be devised by one skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Forexample, although a visual icon is preferred, an audible signal could begiven to alert the viewer to the presence of an announcement oradvertisement. Further, if only the record function is available, themenu of FIG. 3 could be bypassed and the menu of FIG. 4 could bedisplayed directly; alternatively, if only one other EPG function isavailable, the menu of FIG. 3 could be bypassed in favor of a prompt toconfirm the EPG function or the display of some other appropriateprompting menu.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A method of activating a function to be performedin relation to media assets, the method comprising: generating fordisplay a first media asset; prompting the user, while the first mediaasset is being generated for display, whether to activate the functionin relation to a series of media assets to which the first media assetbelongs; receiving, while the first media asset continues to begenerated for display, a user selection to activate the function inrelation to the series of media assets; and activating the function inrelation to the series of media assets in response to the userselection.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein activating the functionin relation to the series of media assets comprises scheduling theseries of media assets for recording.
 14. The method of claim 12,wherein activating the function in relation to the series of mediaassets comprises generating for display a synopsis associated with aselected media asset in the series of media assets.
 15. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the user selection is a first user selection and theprompting is performed in response to receiving a second user selectionto activate the function in relation to the first media asset.
 16. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: storing, in a memory, scheduleinformation associated with each media asset in the series of mediaassets to which the first media asset belongs; and linking, in thememory, the schedule information associated with the first media assetto the schedule information associated with other media assets in theseries of media assets such that the schedule information associatedwith the other media assets can be retrieved by accessing the scheduleinformation associated with the first media asset.
 17. A method ofactivating a function to be performed in relation to media assets, themethod comprising: generating for display, during the display of a firstmedia asset, an announcement or advertisement of a second media assetand an indication of the availability of activating the function inrelation to a series of media assets to which the second media assetbelongs; in response to the indication, receiving a user selection toactivate the function in relation to the series of media assets; andactivating the function in relation to the series of media assets inresponse to the user selection.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinactivating the function in relation to the media assets comprisesscheduling the series of media assets for recording.
 19. The method ofclaim 17, wherein activating the function in relation to the series ofmedia assets comprises generating for display a synopsis associated witha selected media asset in the series of media assets.
 20. The method ofclaim 17, wherein: the user selection is a first user selection; and theindication of the availability of activating the function in relation tothe series of media assets is generated for display in response toreceiving a second user selection to activate the function in relationto the second media asset.
 21. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising: storing, in a memory, schedule information associated witheach media asset in the series of media assets to which the second mediaasset belongs; and linking, in the memory, the scheduling informationassociated with the second media asset to the schedule informationassociated with other media assets in the series of media assets suchthat the schedule information associated with the other media assets canbe retrieved by accessing the scheduling information associated with thesecond media asset.
 22. A system for activating a function to beperformed in relation to media assets, the system comprising: a displayprocessor configured to generate for display a first media asset; andcontrol circuitry configured to: prompt the user, while the first mediaasset is being generated for display, whether to activate the functionin relation to a series of media assets to which the first media assetbelongs; receive, while the first media asset continues to be generatedfor display, a user selection to activate the function in relation tothe series of media assets; and activate the function in relation to theseries of media assets in response to the user selection.
 23. The systemof claim 22, wherein the function is activated in relation to the seriesof media assets by configuring the control circuitry to: schedule theseries of media assets for recording.
 24. The system of claim 22,wherein the function is activated in relation to the series of mediaassets by configuring the control circuitry to: generate for display asynopsis associated with a selected media asset in the series of mediaassets.
 25. The system of claim 22, wherein the user selection is afirst user selection and the control circuitry is further configured to:receive a second user selection to activate the function in relation tothe first media asset; and in response to receiving the second userselection, prompt the user, while the first media asset is beinggenerated for display, whether to activate the function in relation to aseries of media assets to which the first media asset belongs.
 26. Thesystem of claim 22, further comprising a memory configured to: storeschedule information associated with each media asset in the series ofmedia assets to which the first media asset belongs; and link theschedule information associated with the first media asset to theschedule information associated with other media assets in the series ofmedia assets such that the schedule information associated with theother media assets can be retrieved by accessing the scheduleinformation associated with the first media asset.
 27. A system foractivating a function to be performed in relation to media assets, thesystem comprising: a display processor configured to generate fordisplay, during the display of a first media asset, an announcement oradvertisement of a second media asset and an indication of theavailability of activating the function in relation to a series of mediaassets to which the second media asset belongs; and control circuitryconfigured to: receive a user selection, in response to the indication,to activate the function in relation to the series of media assets; andactivate the function in relation to the series of media assets inresponse to the user selection.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein thefunction is activated in relation to the series of media assets byconfiguring the control circuitry to: schedule the series of mediaassets for recording.
 29. The system of claim 27, wherein the functionis activated in relation to the series of media assets by configuringthe control circuitry to: generate for display a synopsis associatedwith a selected media asset in the series of media assets.
 30. Thesystem of claim 27, wherein: the user selection is a first userselection; and the display processor is further configured to generatefor display the indication of the availability of activating thefunction in relation to the series of media assets in response toreceiving a second user selection to activate the function in relationto the section media asset.
 31. The system of claim 27, furthercomprising a memory configured to: store schedule information associatedwith each media asset in the series of media assets to which the secondmedia asset belongs; and link the scheduling information associated withthe second media asset to the schedule information associated with othermedia assets in the series of media assets such that the scheduleinformation associated with the other media assets can be retrieved byaccessing the scheduling information associated with the second mediaasset.